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The Deal Report

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By Missy Schwartz

MOVIES
Why did Selma Blair sign up for a remake of The Fog, starring Smallville's Tom Welling? ''I married this man'' — actor Ahmet Zappa — ''who is a complete horror buff. He thinks being in one of these movies is akin to being a rock star!'' Updating the role originated in 1980 by Adrienne Barbeau, Blair plays a deejay who transmits from a lighthouse, and ''saves people from the fog because I have the advantage of being up there.'' Ooooh!

TELEVISION
Double high-fives to HBO for renewing The Wire, the Deal Report's favorite show! ''If HBO voted on numbers, we'd be gone,'' says David Simon, creator of the critically adored, mass-audience-ignored series about Baltimore cops and their criminal adversaries. Season 4 will delve into the public school system while revisiting the themes of drugs and violence. As for which actors might be returning, Simon's lips were as sealed as a juvie's record, but the DR is lobbying hard for Michael K. Williams' shotgun-lovin' gangsta, Omar Little. ''There's no controlling that man,'' Simon says with a chuckle. ''Omar does what he wants, lives by his own code. If he wants to come back, he might. If he doesn't want to, I probably can't make him.''. . . Speaking of Bad Boys, Sean ''P. Diddy'' Combs has signed a first-look production deal with MTV, home to his hit Making the Band series. ''When we [work] together, we hit it out of the park,'' boasts Diddy. Upcoming projects include Borrow My Crew, ''a Cinderella-type fantasy for young men and women who borrow their favorite celebrity's staff and live like a star for three days''; and Run's House, ''reality TV's answer to The Cosby Show,'' which chronicles ''the life and times of Run from Run-DMC.'' Diddy's also got his eye on the big screen, with a black James Bond-style pic in the works as well as a heist film à la Ocean's Eleven with ''African- American icons'' and ''two token white guys, 'cause usually it's two token black guys.'' Bottom line: ''Diddy's coming to Hollywood. Save me a parking spot.''